The Release of Ryousu
by animeconquerer
Summary: As peace has finally returned to a blood-thirsty land, everything is disrupted by the emergence of an old evil. And the only person who can defeat this evil before it is to late, Donovan who released it. Can Ryousu be defeated, or are we all doomed?
1. The Accident

Author's Note: This is a project I started on about three years ago. I stopped writing about two years ago, so if you see sudden changes in writing style, it's probably because I am going to continue it now. I originally was intending to create a book from this. Then I woke up and decided I would just use this to test out my writing abilities. Now, that's enough pretext I guess. Please, just read and enjoy (I hope). One last thing, in case you can't tell, and if you can't I suggest you talk to a neurologist immediately, I have taken copious amounts of terminology and names from certain anime.

Disclaimer: None of the names or terminology belong to me. They are all just influences from Kishimoto, and various other manga-ka's.

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**Chapter 1**

**The Accident**

"Great Air Bellow" bellowed my sensei.

"Oof"

The ground felt cold and hard as I hit the ground with a solid thump from the air bellow attack I took from my sensei in the chest.

"Must you always be so rough, sensei?" I said, regaining my battle stance.

"Of course I must Donovan," replied my master with a grin, " I can still hardly believed you entered my apprenticeship with such poor skills though. I can't believe you talked me into becoming your master. Now let us continue your training."

I sighed while my sensei and I bowed to each other. These long training regimens that my sensei had imposed on me had seemed hard at first but now it was absolutely backbreaking labor with all the pain from the previous days.

The day would begin by being rudely woken up by my sensei, Sarutobi at around 4:30 in the morning. Then after getting dressed I have to go down the long winding paths from the top of the mountains to reach the river which winded through the Dajinn mountain range. I would then have to carry all the herbs, spices, vegetarian food (all monks in the village are required to be vegetarian) and the gallons of water found in and around the river, up to our village hidden in the clouds hugging the mountain, yet better known as Kohona. Next I would have to practice my swordsmanship, but it is truly more than that. Sarutobi and I practice Taien-Shou and Tainjutsu, basic and advanced forms of self-defense and defense of others. We also practice with staffs, spears, daggers, pikes, throwing stars, and all other types of weapons, however, it is against our religion to make others suffer.

After practicing with our weapons, which we had already done today, my sensei and I would spar with Taien-Shou, Tainjutsu, and the special monk forces that outsiders called "magic" but what we Kaiten monks call Jutsu using Konem which mixes body and spiritual energy, and use your hands, body, and enchanted spirit paper and scrolls to execute the Jutsu. In truth, this "magic" however, is little more than the ability that some are born with that give them the ability to bend, control, contort, summon, banish, and in any other way control the forces of nature. These forces consisted of light, fire, water, air, earth, darkness, metal, energy, and sound. We were doing this at the very moment. After that we would have breakfast and we would meditate while facing the rising sun. After that we would focus on practicing my Jutsu and strength until dinner. We would than thank our God to help us reach enlightenment as we sat still as stone facing

the setting sun in acknowledgment of the greater forces of the world. We would then go to sleep in our huts on our straw mats. However, for some strange reason my training has always been different and more severe than those of the others apprenticed and even sometimes higher up apprentice monks.

I looked around surveying the sparring field in which I was still not accustomed to. I was still used to fighting in the smaller field used for those who were not yet apprenticed. The sight beyond my master was beautiful and easy to get lost in. The view was that of looking down the mountains to see the beautiful valleys below and the preserved site of where one of our strongest warrior monk, Ryokotse fought and sacrificed himself to defeat the vicious dragon, Irotenkin. I looked for some way to use the landscape against my sensei. I saw none.

"Spar... begin" yelled my master.

"Hyaaaaaaaa, Lesser Flying Rock Jutsu" I cried screaming like a demon, while twisting my hands into several Jutsu seals.

"Ha," exclaimed my master," Don't even bother with such a weak attack." Sarutobi then stopped my attack with his own Jutsu throwing the rocks back at me with even greater momentum. One of them clipped me on the temple rendering me unconscious.

I awoke with a massive headache and with the kind yet strong eyes of my master facing mine.

" You need a lot more practice," he said with a smile. All I did was groan.

" Ohh well lets go continue, but this time try using your Jutsu scrolls, your skilled with those aren't you" he said?

Choosing randomly a scroll from my robe, I take out a scroll and open it up for its instructions. However, something was strange with this scroll. I never remembered acquiring it. As well as with the fact that this scroll had a seal on its open end. Carefully, I opened the spirit scroll to look at the instructions. They were some of the hardest seals I knew only because of my advanced training.

"Spar... begin" my sensei cried, already beginning his seals for his techniques.

" Oh no you don't" I yelled. I took out the scroll bit my finger till there was blood and wiped it on the scroll, then I started making seals as fast as I could.

All of a sudden Sarutobi yelled, " No, not that Jutsu."

Yet I still cried," Supreme Dark Summoning Jutsu."

All of a sudden there was a huge explosion and a deep voice screamed, " Finally, I'm free. All you monks will pay for locking me up."

Then a dark figure jumped away laughing with joy.

Then I simply stuttered, "What in heaven's holy name have I done?"

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Author's Note: Well, there you have it. This is my first ever fanfiction. Please review however you wish. All reviews are welcome. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you don't, then please tell me. Although, trust me when I say that this story is going to get better as time goes on. Trust me, I know that the beginning is a little weak, but I thought this up when I was only a high school freshman.

Since I am a Senior in High School, it will be difficult for me to update constantly, although I will do my best. Thank you all for reading.


	2. The Beginning

Author's Note: Turns out that I had Chapter 2 in my computer as well. I hope you enjoy this chapter immensely more than the previous.

Disclaimer: Actually, now that I think about it, I don't really need a disclaimer since it is, at least to some microscopic degree, original. However I am still going to burn in copycat hell. Along with Kakashi.

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**Chapter 2**

**The Beginning**

I wandered around Kohona as the village elders and leaders assembled. Sarutobi had not told me what I had done or what that creature was that had come from my scroll. All I could tell was that it was a creature of great evil, and it seemed to be either a demon or a half-demon. I held the scroll the scroll cautiously, as though it still had some great evil inside it. I felt something inside me yet somehow not part of me truly push an aura to feel the scroll's aura. I could feel both of the auras pushing at each other. I didn't even remember obtaining this scroll from my master or from any other place. I had a bad feeling that I couldn't shake off. I felt as if something terribly horrid was going to happen.

Without knowing it I ended up walking to my best friends house, Korna, who although lived in the village Kohona was not a monk. Korna was actually a master swordsman who had spent the eight years of his adult life (he is 16, I am 14) traveling and practicing the arts of swordsmanship and any other arts that he felt were related. He had taught me many a trick with swords, yet he kept the best of his tricks and past locked inside him. The only thing that I ever knew of his past was that he came from a city called Tarnim. I myself had come from Mitchai and my sensei had come from Sounnsha, which had been destroyed several years earlier. It was rare for monks to be born in Kohona. Monks are usually chosen when other monks travel to find another generation of monks.

I could remember how fine a swordsman Korna was from one of our past battles where he had surprised me with many a trick. I could still remember it like it just a month ago. Actually... it was just a month ago.

_We chose our one weapon to fight with in the spar. I chose a staff, which had two concealed blades at each end, which could be revealed by pulse of Konem. Korna on the other hand chose a humongous great sword that most people couldn't use with both hands yet he could wield with just one._

_I started to charge him after our bow. He then lifted his giant sword which he had named Sarendhaco, and when we were within 20 feet of each other he slammed Sarendhaco on the ground with great force yelling, "SHOCKWAVE." A high screeching sound came to my ears bringing me to my knees, then I was just flung backwards by the sheer force of his shockwave attack._

_I started staggering up while, even though we were 30 feet apart, he swung his sword in a horizontal sweep screaming, "Dragon Air Flow." A thick horizontal line came toward me at a quick pace. I clutched my staff and positioned vertically, whispering "harden" to it while using Konem to harden it. Then, the flow hit me and I was knocked 20 feet into the air. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Korna was right above me yelling, "Demon Slaying Bash." He hit me with the flat of his sword and left his sword there until we hit the ground._

I still carried the mark of where his sword hit me. I saw Korna sitting by the opening of his hut. Even if you were not from Kohona you could tell that Korna was not a monk from his belongings and clothes. He always had a sign of boredom or no emotion on his face. Instead of wearing the traditional monks robe and head sash, he wore padded shirt cloth and pants.

The expression on Korna's face was unfamiliar on him. It was concern. At least… I think it was. Korna's hut was secluded from the rest of the village since he felt that he was not truly connected to them. His hut was however the closest to the one known entrance to the village by some from the outside world.

All of a sudden there was a scream.

"Aaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuggggghhh. Help. Someone, anyone. Aaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuugghhh," screamed a voice.

We turned to look at where the voice was coming from. We saw a boy, 15 by the looks of him, running up the path at envious speeds. Behind him were ten demons, each tall and deadly. Three demons even had throwing knives in there hands. I turned to look at the boy and I winced as I saw two knives protruding from his body. One on his left tricep and the other on his right shoulder. There were also many cuts and bruises on him. I took out a throwing star that was clipped on my robe's sash.

"You ready," I said to Korna, who already was getting out two long swords.

"Born ready," he replied, "lets dance."

Extending my free hand I cried, "Wind Vortex Jutsu." A small vortex jumped from my hand getting larger finally hitting and flinging off the mountain seven of the horrid demons. I threw my throwing star at one of the last three remaining demons. While the demons were still bewildered with what I had just done, Korna ran at them and stabbed them each in the gut.

After praying for forgiveness for killing, I ran to the injured man and asked him who he was and what had happened.

He replied by saying, "I am Jalkree, and my village was just attacked by someone we believe is called Ryouso. He brought a large amount of demons to attack our village. Our village fought back, but to no avail. I am the sole survivor of my village. I must avenge them all."

As I carried Jalkree to the medics hut I conversed with Korna

"This is all my fault" I exclaimed, "It is my duty to stop Ryouso no matter what."

"Something tells me however " said Korna, " that this is only the beginning."

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Author's Note: One hundred virtual dollars to the first person who can guess who I modeled Jalkree after. Also Korna. In case you actually can't tell I'm going to say it at the beginning of the next chapter. Next one is going to be a long one, I promise.


	3. The Journey Begins

Author's Note: Hiya everybody. Wow, three chapters in just one day. I hope you guys like this one. I was up until 3:30 in the morning typing this thing. Also for those of you who couldn't guess it, I modeled Jalkree after Rock Lee from Naruto. Also, I modeled some aspects of Korna after Roranoa Zoro from One Piece. Sarutobi, is not however modeled after the Sandaime Hokage from Naruto. Instead he is slightly modeled after Tensing, a llama from Isabel Allende's "Kingdom of the Golden Dragon." However, don't start thinking that this is all copied work. While some things are definitely from anime and books, the plot is much more original. Well, thats enough of that. Please enjoy.

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**Chapter 3**

**The Journey Begins**

I examined Jalkree as I carried him to the medics hut. Blood was still spewing from his wounds. Korna and I had taken out the kunai, from his arms. I could sense murderous intent inside him.

He told us that Ryouso and his troops of demons had stormed the town. He explained to us that even after killing many a demon he had had to flee like the others. He however, believed that the others had all been captured and killed because they did not posses his strength or speed.

" How did you defeat so many demons?" asked Korna, " You do not seem to be a swordsman or weapon user of any kind."

" I know," replied Jalkree, " I am a hand to hand specialist. I only fight with my body and a kunai."

By this time we had reached the medics hut and many monks were crowding around us to see what was happening. I gave him to Sansha our village's head healer. It appeared that the head meeting was over because many of the village leaders were among the crowd.

I saw Sarutobi head towards me.

"Come with me" he said seriously.

He led me to a private hut were no one seemed to be around. Korna knowing that this was important followed us to the hut.

"As you can tell Donovan things have started to get bad in the outside world," began my sensei. "They are just going to keep getting worse and worse. That is unless someone can stop him. That is, Ryouso. Donovan, I know that this may sound like a lot of what I'm asking of you but, will you journey with me to help seal him again?"

I felt shocked. I wanted to go destroy Ryouso, but I believed that Sarutobi would be against my involvement.

"Of course master," I replied after the initial shock had worn off.

"What of you Korna?" questioned Sarutobi, "Will you accompany Donovan and I to seal away Ryouso?"

"Hmm. Oh well. I might as well go for the practice," Korna replied with an air of feigned boredom.

"Master," I stated, "there is another who I know will wish to accompany us. His name is Jalkree and he could be useful. Besides, I can tell he will not be swayed from his path of revenge. We should allow him to join."

"Hmm, yes I believe we shall, " my master replied, "Then the four of us shall go to defeat Ryouso. We leave at dawn tomorrow."

I awoke slightly before dawn on the next day. I had spent the last evening packing all of my belongings into my traveling pack. I slung my pack over my shoulder and walked to the middle of the village. Very few people were up at this time. I could see Korna riding towards me on his magnificent white stallion. It was a rare breed horse, called a Hajra, which were bred discreetly in Tarnim. His name was Hanin. Korna was also bringing along two other horses, which although fine bred, are little compared to Hanin.

The only other person in the courtyard was Negume, Kohona's white witch priestess who knew much of evil and protected the village from it, Sarutobi, and Jalkree, who seemed to have fully recovered from his injuries.

When Korna reached us with the horses the whole group assembled together.

"All right then," Sarutobi said, " Let's get moving or well never find Ryouso."

"Wait a minute," I exclaimed, "There are four of us but there are only three horses."

"Yes," said Korna in a depressive tone, " This is all the village could spare us. We'll just have to have two people on one horse."

"Oh don't worry about that," said Jalkree, " I'll just run the whole time. Don't worry it'll be no problem."

Everyone just stared at him. "Well… if you're sure you can," said Sarutobi, " Then sure."

"Where shall we begin our search," I asked my master.

"In the village of Zensu, Jalkree's village," my sensei responded.

We began to lead the horses to the beginning of the commonly used trail, which would lead us down the mountain to a valley, which would eventually lead us to the outside world.

Before we left Kohona however, Negume walked up to me, and dragged me from the group.

"Here," said the priestess, holding up a necklace to which was attached a pendant of dull silver in the pattern of an infinite spiral, " Keep this with you for your safety, and you shall forever hold my protection."

I quickly thanked her and quickly rejoined the group.

As we began to walk down the trail I began to have a very dark feeling, that I would not return to Kohona for a very long time.

Korna, Sarutobi, and I mounted our horses and lead them in a quick trot while Jalkree sprinted next to us with apparent ease. While we traveled down the mountain, Sarutobi began to tell us about Ryouso.

"Do any of you actually know who Ryouso is or what his past is" began Sarutobi.

Jalkree said, "I only know that he is a horrid demon who seems to love destruction, but aside from that I know nothing."

"Well then" said Sarutobi, " I guess I will have to instruct you about Ryouso myself.

"Well then, here is Ryouso's known story. Ryouso was also a Kaiten monk and he lived during the time of Ryokotse. In fact, it is even thought that Ryokotse and Ryouso were brothers. However, that is besides the point. What is important is that Ryouso was a monk and a powerful one at that. However, he was always thought to be thirsting for power. He found that through the way of the monk he could not become stronger, however, he found that he could become stronger if he were to walk the path of darkness and evil. So for his thirst was power was so great that he walked the path of evil. It is known that he had on him performed many a wicked ritual to gain himself knowledge and strength. So with his knowledge and strength he became set upon ruling this world, for to Ryouso power was his play toy. He saw himself fit to rule this world so he ventured out to conquer it. However, even Ryouso knew that even with his great power he could not conquer the world himself. So Ryouso created the four Eternal Guardians. Have any of you ever heard of them?" He said this all in a very teacher like way.

We all shook our head to the question.

"Well then, let me tell you. The Eternal Guardians, or as others call them the Guardians of Terror, were all made from Ryouso's power. Not much is known of them besides from the fact that they were made to defend Ryouso to their last breath. They are called the Eternal Guardians because we know that they were immortal, or at least they were to the power of time. However, Ryouso knew that even with the Guardians he would not be able to enslave the world. He would need to use the jewels of shikara."

At that name I saw Jalkree's head shoot-up. I saw a look of remembrance and what appeared to be a slight amount of joy spread out on his face.

"Then I need not worry to find him," said Jalkree, "He will come for me."

"What makes you so certain of that" exclaimed my sensei in a slightly surprised voice. "The only reason the Ryouso would have been to attack your village would be to test his current strength or to look for one of the jewels that could have been buried in the earth many years ago. After all, the only thing that Ryouso is interested in, is in regaining his old power and for that he needs the jewels."

"And that is why he will come for me" said Jalkree in an excited voice. "I possess the shikara jewels. You see, when I was 12 I was running around outside my village with a few friends of mine I fell inside a hidden ditch that was camouflaged to look like the ground. However, the ditch was very deep and it was a circular shape so though I tried hard to get out I could not. I shouted to my friends that I had fallen down. My friends heard my shouts and came running in my direction. None of them however, could find anything long enough to help me out. They decided that all of them except one should run to the village for help, the other one would stay near the ditch to make sure nothing would attack us. There was a lot of light left to the day and with the light I looked around my place of entrapment. All that I could see was a few clumps of rocks and what looked like a small 1 foot pillar on which sat what seemed like four perfectly round blue rocks."

"I had assumed that these rocks were just jewels," stated Jalkree, " and I reached out my hand to grab them. The moment that my hand touched one all four jewels shot into my four separate limbs. At first, I just was filled with a painful burning sensation as if my limbs were going to burn off. Then, it suddenly stopped and I was filled with what felt like an unstoppable amount of power. I suddenly felt as if I were a god. With a light hop I was able to jump out of the hole… and into the crowd of people which was lead by my friends who had gone for help. Our head priest quickly took us aside to his tent and he asked me what happened. I told him, and he told me that those were Shikara jewels. He quickly made up a lie to the towns people, since they were not meant to know of the jewels, or there power, and he swore me to secrecy. I have not told anyone this story since that day when I first received this strength."

Everyone had stopped riding (and in Jalkree's case walking) at this point, and we were all sitting down in the shade of some trees. No one said anything at first. Sarutobi was the one to break the silence.

"Well at least some things are cleared up," Sarutobi said. "I could not understand why it was that Ryousu would risk revealing himself to the monks just to attack a village. There would be no point to that, since he could cause all the havoc he wanted, after he obtained his former power. The only reason that he might have wanted to attack your village is if he knew that some of the jewels were there."

I had previously been thinking very hard, trying to absorb all of this information, but one of my master's statements was bothering me.

"Forgive me if I am mistaken sensei, but did you just say that village was near _some_ of the shikara jewels. Don't you mean the Shikara jewels, or are you trying to say that there are more than just the four jewels that Jalkree has."

"Oh, that is my fault" said Sarutobi, "Yes, you there are many of the jewels, perhaps even hundreds of them."

"Oi," said Korna, suddenly interested," do you mean to say there are more of these jewels that exist. I could use one of those."

"Don't even think about it," said Sarutobi forcefully. We all jumped up. We could all tell that he was quite angry. "No one should be using those jewels. While I will not tell Jalkree to rid himself of his, that is merely because he could not accompany us without them. Those jewels were not made to help those of justice. They were made by the strongest in the entire world, men who were above good and evil. They cared not for destruction nor for peace, but merely for the preservation of their clan. Ryouso forced them, the Eien1 Clan, to construct the jewels. And after this, Ryouso slaughtered every last living creature of the clan, sparing no one. The Shikara Jewels are the last remaining reminder of the Eien Clan. They were great craftsmen, as well as warriors, yet do not so easily use their artifacts. Bear no doubt in your minds, when Ryousu learns that someone from Zensu survived, and that they have the village's jewels, then he will move heaven and hell to kill us all."

The rest of us sat glumly as my sensei lectured us. I could see that the other two, just as myself were hoping to gain power through the jewels.

"Jalkree," I stated suddenly, " would you mind telling us about what happened at your village?"

"Of course not," he said," this is what I remember."

_I was coming back to my parents' house after my customary 20 lap around the village. I suddenly saw figures flying out of my parents' window. I rushed to the figures and saw that it was my father. His entire body was riddled with slashes and bite marks. I began calling out his name but he didn't answer me. It finally hit me, my father had died. My body suddenly turned to ice. I realized that my mother would be inside at this time of the day. I grabbed a kunai from my pouch and ran inside to search for my mother. The moment before my foot touched the inside of our house, the entire structure seemed to implode. I was flung backward tumbling head-over-heels in the air until I was finally stopped by a structure. A very solid structure. I looked at my body, and I saw that I was covered with bruises and various cuts. I got up and looked around to regain my orientation. I saw that the building that had stopped me, was the residency of the Head Priest of Zensu. However, this was not the first thing that I noticed. What I did notice first were the flocks of citizens being chased by demons around the village. I watched as the town guards and priests tried in vain to cast off these demons. I knew that I had to help them, since I was probably the only one that could defeat at least even one of these monsters. They were gargantuan creatures, over 12 feet tall, with long claws and canines longer than the average adult's head. It had grayish-green skin and seemed to drag their arms behind them as they chased their targets they seemed to be very fast and strong. I charged at one of them, which was towering over a helpless woman clutching her child to her chest, begging the monster to spare the little boy's life. On the run, I pulled out on of my kunai, and slashed at its right hamstring. It gave a roar of pain as the kunai cut its tendon like a knife through hot butter. As it dropped to its knees I shoved the kunai into its descending throat, cutting off its roar as fast as it started. In the distance I saw the Head Priest, the only one who knew of my jewels. I started to race towards him, until I saw him dragged by a man, seven feet tall with long silver hair, and pinned to the side of a building by the man's arm. I drew close enough to hear that the man, who identified himself as Ryousu, ask the Priest where "it" was. I understand now that he was talking about the jewels. The Priest said nothing, merely staying pleased at Ryouso's vexation. Then he broke his silence to say his last words. "You will never be able to find them all. I have foreseen that you will be –." He never finished that sentence because Ryouso had grown tired of him and had pierced his heart with his hand. At that point I was seized by such a great fear that I immediately began to run. I was spotted by demons and they gave chase, laughing as they gave chase. I tried to fend them off by throwing my kunai at them but fear had shaken me to the point where they could easily catch my weapons and throw them back at me. I ran and ran until I found the path to Kohona._

"Well then," said Sarutobi," I understand now. We should continue our journey. We don't want to waste any more time."

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Author's Note: Well, there you have it. If you noticed a strange shift of writing technique in the middle of the chapter I have only two things to say. 1. You must be an English teacher, because most wouldn't even be able to identify that shift, and 2. around the middle of this chapter is where I left off writing 3 years ago. Next chapter will be completely new and surprising. However, chapter four is so secretive, that not even I know what's inside of it. Also, since I love the Japanese language so much, I will probably be adding in certain words in English phonetics. If you feel I shouldn't do this, please tell me. If not, all of the translations for the lesser known words will be displayed at the bottom. Please Review.

1. Eien - Eternal


	4. The Encounter

Author's Note: Welcome back all of my dedicated fans. Just kidding. Well, I stayed up until 12:30 AM finishing this chapter. I hope all you readers enjoy it, that is when someone besides myself actually starts reading this story. But I digress, read and relax.

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**Chapter 4**

**The Encounter**

The sun was starting to lower itself. It was around 3:00 in the afternoon. We had seen Zensu in the horizon one hour before, and it was getting steadily closer.

Half an hour later we finally made it to the outskirts of the town. However, the moment we all saw the town we felt a wave of despair pass over us.

The town had been completely demolished. All the buildings had been destroyed. There were the gutted and bled out bodies of all of the citizens. Blood was blanketing every square inch of the floor. I could feel the aura of death around the entire village. The weight of the dead seamed like a physical burden onto both me and my master, since we were both more in touch with the realm of spirits than any of the others gathered. I could feel the resentment of the dead for those who trampled across this horrible site.

Everyone, except for Jalkree, dismounted. Jalkree began to walk off, into some random direction. The rest of us followed him, afraid of what this might to do him. We walked around, sometimes in what seemed like circles. Every now and then, Jalkree would look around, with an air of confusion, trying to reorient himself with his destroyed hometown. We finally came to a rest somewhere near the center of the ransacked village. Jalkree stopped next to a corpse, that even in death, I could feel had once had, while not as strong as my master or even me, still had had considerable power.

"This was him," started Jalkree, "This was our Head Priest, Ensu, the one who was killed by Ryousu."

"At least there is some light in this situation," said Sarutobi, "Because we have this starting point, we will be able to track Ryousu with the remnants of his evil aura."

Sarutobi began to prepare for the technique to track down Ryousu. I walked over to him to see what he was doing, after all, it might become important for me to learn it for a time later.

As I began to approach Sarutobi-sensei, I heard a sharp whistling _Wheeeee!_. I sprung backwards and looked around. There, lying where my foot was about to step, was an arrow, half planted in the ground.

"Who's there," shouted Korna, quickly unsheathing two katanas.

Three arrows sped toward Korna. Then, in a flash of unseen movement, he had neatly sliced through all three of the speeding arrows, causing them to split off into different secure paths.

"Leave bandits, before I turn you into pin cushions . It will be just as easy as the last pair of bandits that tried to loot this town," said the mysterious voice which seemed to echo around the field of destruction. The voice was definitely female. It also seemed confident, yet also contained a twinge of fear, perhaps because of Korna's display of swordsmanship.

Everyone started to look around warily, trying to spot where the voice was coming from.

Suddenly, from behind a demolished house a few meters away, a figure in a hooded brown robe flew out, firing arrows while it did so. Everyone sprang away from the attacker's line of fire as soon as the strings of arrows were let loose.

Korna and I shot forward as soon as our feet hit the ground. I spared a glance behind me to see what the others were doing. I could see my master going through the seals for a jutsu to stop our attacker, but I knew that it would be easier for him if we kept the attacker focused on us, rather than my master. I looked around for Jalkree, expecting him to have rushed forward like Korna and me, but when I looked back again, I saw him just standing with a look of consternation and remembrance on his face.

We were finally on within a few feet of the archer when I heard Jalkree's cry.

"Stop" cried Jalkree, appearing before us, arms widespread, preventing us from pressing on. He turned to face the assailant and said, almost as if his own mouth was betraying his mind, "Yu- Yukino, can it possibly be. I- Is it you, Yukino."

"Jalkree, but- but I thought you- you had died," said the archer, her voice as breathless and bated as the hand-to-hand specialist's. She lowered her hood slowly, and drew her eyes to Jalkree's own. After a second which seemed to last for an eternity for all those involved, she dropped her bow and grabbed Jalkree in a fierce hug.

"Jalkree, I thought you had died," she cried, tears running down her face, "I thought that you had died. When I those demons finally started to retreat from the city, I searched the entire village, but I couldn't find your body. At first I was so happy, since I thought that you had escaped and that you would come back when it would be safe to return. But then, Tsubaki told me that she saw you chased by lots of demons, and I resigned myself to the idea that you had been killed. Waahh, I'm just so glad that you're back."

"Don't worry, I'm here, you don't have to be afraid anymore," said Jalkree, who at this point had taken the girl into his arms. "But who is Tsubaki? I don't remember anyone from the village by that name."

"She was a traveler who was happening to pass through town, when the demons arrived. She's what caused so many of the demons to retreat."

"What, how is that even possible," said Korna with disbelief, "Jalkree said that the entire village was overrun with demons, and that's a lot of enemies for just one person. Just who exactly is this Tsubaki person?"

"I don't know that much about her, but I can tell you one thing though, she's strong" said Yukino, "strong enough to take on several monsters at one time. However, she was unable to help us until most everyone had been killed. If she had fought earlier on, we might have been able to save the village. But that isn't important, what is important is that she can help us avenge our village by helping us kill those demons the next time we kill them. I'll take you to her, so that you can meet her. At this point of the day, she should be at the lake."

With that, Yukino picked herself up and started to lead the way. We all looked at each other warily for a few seconds, and then began to hurry after her. Korna deviated from the group for a second to grab the girl's discarded bow, before putting it on his back. I could tell that Korna did not trust this girl, and keeping her weapon was his way of retaining some control.

"So Jalkree," started Korna, "who is that girl, your friend or what?"

"What, oh no," answered Jalkree, "that was my sister, Yukino. She's a priestess in training, which is why she uses a bow and arrow."

Up ahead, Yukino was slowing down. She was starting to lead us far away from the village, and into an area of wilderness. I saw her pull away Jalkree from the group and begin talking to him out of the earshot of the others. I was only guessing, but I believed that he was informing his sister of Ryousu and how the attack on the village was not merely a random happenstance, but a planned invasion by an organized evil force.

As the two siblings talked, I began to look at the entire group and how different everyone was. There was Jalkree, a hand-to-hand specialist with jewels of mystical power embedded inside his body, wearing a white tunic and trouser combination, with sandals secured to his feet, so that at high-speed runs he would not slip out of them. He was of medium height and had a tough hard body. He had brown eyes and dark black hair, his only similarity with his sibling.

Then there his sister, Yukino, a priestess in training, whose aura burned with a desire for revenge. She had discarded her brown monk's robe, and was now wearing what she had worn underneath, a traditional white and blue miko worn by priestess in training. With brown eyes and dark black hair, she had a slight build and was slightly petite, yet carried herself with a presence of power and strength.

Next, there was Korna. He was a swordsman, almost at a master's level. He knew almost everything there was to know about a sword, and had a copy of almost every single type of sword. He wore a white shirt, with dark green pants and a haori sword belt, which held several of his many swords. He had blond hair and sharp blue eyes which seemed to cut through whatever it set its gaze on. He was muscular and above the average height.

After that, there was my master. I could not say much about him except that he was a powerful kind man. He dressed in a traditional brown-and-blue monk's habitat and was exceptionally tall. Well-defined muscles cut through his body made it seem as if he was the work of art of a master sculptor. He had clear cerulean blue eyes that seamed to pierce the soul of whoever it saw. He was a bald man, as was traditional by all masters of Kohona.

Lastly, there was myself. I cannot say that I radiated power or kindness more or less than anyone else. I was dressed similarly as my master. I had green eyes, and sandy blonde hair.

'I can only wonder,' I thought to myself with a slight grin appearing on my face, 'what will this Tsubaki be like.'

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Author's Note: Well, there you have it. Tsubaki has always been the hardest character for me to design. I was always changing her name, her clothes, her weaknesses, past, and possible endings. I must have read through my entire Japanese-English dictionary looking for a perfect name for her. After I couldn't find it there, I went through a huge website dictated primarily to Japanese baby names, and I still couldn't pin something perfect for her. Finally, my friend suggested that I name her Tsubaki, after one of Orihime's "Shun Shun Rikka's" or, after the weapon Tsubaki from the anime Soul Eater. The only part of her character that has ever stayed constant are her abilities. While I will not tell you exactly what they are, I will say however that they are bad ass. It shouldn't take to long for chapter five to come out after this does. Also, starting chapter five, I will be changing some of the names of the chapters just to see if it sounds better. Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Thanks for reading and please review. Also, one last thing which I forgot to put up before. This story is rated M. This does not mean that it will be a lemon. There are other reasons for this rating, yet I have not been able to develop the story far enough to implement that rating. Also, I am sorry about the prolonged description of the characters coming in now, but I didn't feel like postponing it any longer. I felt that all the readers have a right to be able to understand what a character physically looks like.


	5. Tsubaki, The Final Member Arrives

Chapter Five

Author's Note: Wow, its been a while hasn't it. Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but school has been pretty busy. Ok, I lied, a lot of new anime has come online and that's what has kept me busy, but I like to pretend that it is really school. I was however working on my character notes and outline. So far I've highlighted around 17 important characters, and there are many more on their way, so I hope you have a good memory for names. Also, this is very important, at least to those people who are always getting pissed when a story gets changed out of nowhere, and there is no notice. For the sake of the fact that my earlier statements seemed strange, I am changing the ages of the characters. Korna is 19, Donovan is 18, Jalkree is 18, and Yukino is 17. Also, I know I never said it before, but Sarutobi is 30, not that it makes any difference, but I want to cover all my bases. Also, Tsubaki is 19, just saying.

By the way, I am starting to have dreams that I am being attacked by the fans of all the animes I copied off of. I have no idea where this is coming from though.

Also, I just wanted to say that things are going to finally get good in this story. I know I've been saying that for a while now, but I can honestly say it will be pretty good now.

Also, some parts might seem strange, but just saying the section of the chapter that is in the past, is told in a third person point of view as Donovan was not actually there at that point. I don't really fancy interrupting the flow of the story just for the sake of extremist precision.

**Legend:**

"Spoken Words"

'Thoughts'

_Jutsu/Technique_

Past

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**Chapter 5**

**Tsubaki, the Final Member Arrives**

I was cut out of my reverie of thought as Yukino's voice cut through the air.

"We're here everyone" she stated as we approached an immense lake which was being fed by a waterfall. We had just emerged from the woods and we all started to look around for this mysterious "Tsubaki." With the woods directly behind us we could see the entire spread of the lake, but we did not see a single person.

"That's weird, " continued Yukino, "the last time I saw Tsubaki, she was right over—"

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAH"

Her speech was suddenly cut short by a loud monstrous cry.

As one, everyone in the group turned around to look into the woods.

"What was that" asked Sarutobi, barely even startled by the roar.

"Th- That's the cry of one of the demons that attacked the village" said Jalkree with a touch of fear in his voice.

All of a sudden a gigantic demon, perhaps 13 feet tall burst through the coverage of the forest and sped towards the group. It was a tall, proud creature, with long fangs dripping with saliva as it eagerly anticipated its next fresh meal. It seemed as if wrought with consternation between having to choose which human to eat first. Finally, in mid-run it seemed to make its decision. It veered slightly and charged even faster towards Yukino.

Yukino, for her part, seemed quite confident and was reaching for the bow strap on her back where she customarily held her bow for easy access, should there be an attack. All of a sudden her smugness ended when she realized that she had left her bow back in the town ruins. She suddenly felt locked in place by fear.

'So this is it' Yukino thought to herself, 'this is how my end comes. I wish I could have lived even just a little bit longer. I always wanted to settle down and have a family, now it looks like that day will never come.'

As Yukino resigned herself to death, her eyes caught a blur at the sides of her vision. The blur stopped in front of her just before the demon arrived, and seemed to brace itself for the impact from the bear.

A cloud of dust erupted around the point of impact, stopping any chance of identifying what had put itself before the demon. As the smoke cleared it became clear what had stopped the demon.

Blocking the path of both of the claws of the demon were two long katanas both held with assurance by Korna. Strapped to his back was the bow which Yukino had accidentally discarded in the city ruins.

"Oi, priestess, whatever happened to your skill while in the city, I think I liked you better when you were all cocky," Korna said with a laugh, "A true warrior should know that they should never let go of their weapon no matter what the situation."

With a cross of his blades, the demon was forced to jump back or have both his arms amputated via sword.

As the demon readied itself to charge again, a light emerged from the woods. It was impossible to tell what it was, only that it was moving fast, and towards the demon.

"_Rei Kusarigama_" came an unidentifiable voice. From the cover of the forest, a sickle-and-chain was extended, cutting all the way into the demon's back. More importantly, running across the length of the chain and imbedded sickle, was lightning.

There was no need to be cautious of this demon, it was definitely dead.

With a sharp pull from the direction of the forest, the chain came loose and was caught in its owner's hand. Its owner was emerging from the forest at this time.

I was incredibly awed, it is no simple feat to channel power through an inanimate object, especially something so volatile as lightning.

"So, this is just a shot in the dark," said Korna in a sarcastic tone, with a small smile tugging across his face, "but I'm guessing that you're Tsubaki."

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After the entire ordeal, everyone was visibly tense. Everyone, that is except for Tsubaki. She had answered that she was in fact Tsubaki, and decided that she would rather hear our explanation when we were all settled down, rather than in a defenseless position so close to the woods were more demons could be hiding, waiting to attack the vulnerable group.

As I started looking around ourselves as we walked around the lake I saw a slightly abnormal sight. It however made a bit of sense after what had happened right after the battle.

After Tsubaki had started leading our group away from the woods, I saw Korna give Yukino her bow which she had previously abandoned. Since Korna had saved her life, she had said nothing, not even acknowledged Tsubaki for helping us kill the demon. Korna standing in front of her holding out her bow finally shook her out of her revere.

"Th- Thank you," she whispered as she took the bow and slung it over her shoulder," If it wasn't for your skill, I- I would be dead, and I would never be able to avenge my people."

"Hmm," said Korna in a nonchalant, playful manner, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just stopped the monster from attacking you, because your blood would have splattered all over my clothes and I had just cleaned these. Don't start thinking that life is all about you little priestess."

"What the, fine then you stuck up asshole," screamed Yukino, seemingly startled, while she stomped off in the direction of the rest of the group

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. By the way, little priestess," he said in his same neutral tone, as she looked at him.

Korna extended his right arm and gave her the thumbs-up sign as he said, "Don't mention it. Next time, I'll let you save me."

What I saw know was still quite strange, even with the previous encounter. Korna was walking as he normally did, at a brisk pace and hands at the ready should any enemy attack. Whenever he looked around in an attempt to see if there was going to be another surprise attack, Yukino would pull closer to him. Each time that he saw her doing this she would quickly look away to cover the blush that quickly started to spread across her face. It was quite obvious what was transpiring, but I knew, for the moment at least, I should say nothing.

We finally made camp after we circumnavigated the lake partially in an attempt to further ourselves from the woods, although it had taken so long that the sun was almost gone from the sky, and there were only a few small strands of light licking the darkened sky.

Everyone sat down in a circle around a circle of dry wood that we had gathered. As my master patted down his pockets for matches (yes, matches exist, deal with it) Tsubaki merely pointed at the collection of firewood and spoke a few unheard words. As if from nothing, a roaring pillar of fire appeared in front of our eyes temporarily blinding us.

As the flare from the light died down, I stopped squinting to find that I could see, while not as well by day, certainly much better, that from that of a normal campfire.

Now that there was a decent light, I could finally take a good look at Tsubaki.

She was slightly tall, about 5'9''. She had long dark black hair, hanging from a long ponytail all the way to her hip. She wore an unremarkable two-piece beige uniform that looked completely normal except upon close inspection, where it showed that on each shoulder of the cloth, there was a symbol. It was a representation of every single classical element, earth, air, water, lightning, ice, and fire, (no this is not a rip off of Avatar, I thought of this before that show was even thought of) all seeming to swirl around the center. She carried on her hips, visibly, her two kusarigama, on of which still had a faint smear of demon blood, despite her having washed the sword right after killing the demon.

The last thing that I noticed about her was her facial features. What I saw made my heart speed.

She was exotic. Her eyes were slanted and angled (yes, she is Asian, deal with it, Asians are hot, no they aren't called Asian here). Her face, while more rounded than that of any other person I had before met, seemed hard as steel, as if speaking of old wounds that stemmed from deep within. Her cool blue eyes seemed to scan everything around her, as if she was always on the alert.

As I studied her, I became aware of a strange emotion building up in me that I had never before experienced. It was admiration, respect, and most strangely, desire.

"What is it" she said with an incredulous expression, "Is something wrong."

I quickly looked away, having been unaware that my staring was so obvious.

"So," continued Tsubaki as though nothing had happened, "would any of you mind telling me your story, and who you all are?"

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"So that's what this is all about" said Tsubaki with a sigh We had just finished telling her who we were and what was going on with Ryousu's situation "And here I was hoping that those demons were just a random pack. There goes that theory. It would have been bad if there was a whole contingent of demons decided to group together, but knowing that there is a higher power coordinating all of this for purposes unknown, well that scares me."

"Yes" started Sarutobi with a worried expression on his face, "it is horrible to hear that such an evil has amassed in this world once again. I must ask however, do you know which direction the demons went towards after they left the village."

"No, I'm sorry" said Tsubaki sighing again, "I tried to do my part during the fighting, but all I can remember during that actual period is that I was fighting those demons, and all of a sudden they were gone. It seemed very strange now that I think of it, but I was too tired to care at the time."

"No, think nothing of it" I jumped in eagerly, "You cannot blame yourself for this."

An uneasy silence filled the air as our group wondered about our next move.

"I'm sorry to ask so suddenly," I said after I could no longer take the silence, I had never been very good with patience, even if I was a monk, "how do you fight?"

It was an innocent enough question, but at its very utterance, everyone, including Korna who had never been very interested in what he called monk 'magic', looked up with faces of curiosity. The only person who didn't seem to become interested was Yukino.

"Oh," said Tsubaki, "I should have said earlier, I apologize. I am a Genso Maho, an elemental witch. I can control all of the elements."

While her statement seemed innocent enough, what she said seemed to befuddle the entire camp. Everyone, even I, who did not know much of outside the monk village, knew what a Genso Maho was.

They were an incredibly powerful clan who had control of every element. It was considered suicide to fight them. They always seemed to align themselves with the law of a town, although this was just to protect themselves. While they were indeed a very powerful clan, not all that were born into the clan had the clan's specialties. Only about 1 out of 5 people born into the clan could actually use any of its techniques. However, those who could were brought up to be masters of combat.

While Tsubaki seemed too young to have completed her training, there seemed to be no doubt in anybodies mind that she was very powerful. It explained how she was able to fight back so many demons in the town and still live. I could tell that the same thought was running through everyone's mind: 'She can be a very useful ally.'

"So," asked Sarutobi-sensei, "where are you going to go now?"

"Well," she started to respond cautiously, "It would be irresponsible of me to just continue with my travels. I would like to know if you would accept me to partake in this quest."

"We would be honored," I said quickly, before even having a chance to discuss this with the others. I could feel their stares piercing into the back of my head.

Before I could so much as turn around and apologize to the others for my hotheadedness, there was a loud interruption.

"Well, it seemed as though everyone has finally gathered," said a deep voice seemingly from nowhere. "Oh come now, it can't be too hard to find me."

We all continued looking around us for the source of the voice. We finally found it, and when I saw it I could feel my entrails go cold. Standing, easily within 10 meters of our encampment were five hooded figures, each of different size and shape, yet all emitting auras of evil.

Suddenly a sharp gust of wind blew off the hood of the man in the middle. Standing there, in the darkness, was Ryousu.

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Translations:

"Rei Kusarigama" – Lightning Sickle

Author's Note: My ultimate technique "_Cliffhanger no Jutsu_". Okay people sorry about that, I just couldn't resist.

For those of you who do not appreciate, or just don't want to hear cursing please skip the next sentence. **This fucking chapter took for-fucking-ever**.

Ah, that's much better. Sorry about that people. I needed to get that out of my system.

So, I finally finished chapter 5. I know, I left you guys hanging for such a long time, almost a whole month I believe. However, I am positive that I can pin the blame on someone. However I won't, all I can say is that I have very bad writing habits. I always decide to start writing near 11:00 PM and then to make up for the fact that I didn't write during the day, I will stay up, sometimes until 1:30 AM, writing notes, possible outcomes, techniques, and if I feel like it, the actual chapter. Unfortunately, I can't promise that this will change, but I can say that I will probably have more time to write starting from the end of November or December.

Anyways, please review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter even more than I enjoyed writing it (that's a lot, just incase you guys couldn't tell).


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